Having completed his M.F.A. at Brandeis University. Hershell has acted in PBS programs, television commercials, and an MGM film. During the summer, he has worked in summer stock companies in the New England area, Cape Cod, New Hampshire, and Maine. As well as professional acting, he has taught English, dramatic literature, acting, directing, and playwriting to secondary high school, community college, and university students. Hershell has written several full-length plays. The list expands with titles including The Tragedy of Leah, Go Dance Through the Veil, and a historically based play about jazz singer and legend Billie Holiday entitled Billie's Blues. His intrigue in the art of theatre and theatre research has encouraged him to pursue a PhD in Fine Arts offered at Texas Tech University. His quest to distinguish between Western-American and African-American theatrical and cultural traditions has led to his dissertation topic, the Development of a Cultural Aesthetic Theory for African American Theatre.